BODEGA

NYC ROCK UNIT /// The best critique is self critique.

[bodeganyc]

This vid stars Madalynn Matthews as the ‘persona’ who struggles to remain authentic against the desire to please others.

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KNOWDEGA.

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There is something like magic at play when a song is recorded -> No matter what technology you use to record, your feelings and ideas are imprinted onto the track in a process not unlike alchemy.

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This is why spontaneity is so important to pop music -> I've always felt that it's best to record a song as close to the initial spark of its conception and if you can't do that, it's best to leave room for on-the-fly changes in the studio (or mixing room) to keep the flame burning.

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Crafting a specific sonic landscape is the ideal but too much meticulous can sound meticulous and...Despite all plans, the definitive is always arrived at by some degree of chance.

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Perhaps the real art of recording lies in how a group navigates the push and pull between spontaneity and craftsmanship.

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I recently interviewed Simon Raymonde from the Cocteau Twins (episode 3 of the ATM podcast) -> The Cocteau Twins were so obsessed w/ spontaneous automatic writing that they never wrote songs or made demos outside the studio. All of their records (except maybe some of the later ones) are documents of the first time their musical ideas were ever played (after a few warm-up blunder takes I presume). Thus, the Cocteau discs are true records of their own gestation and sparkle forth (not from some timeless cannon) but from specific moments of synapses firing.

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This, of course, is true of all records (even covers LPs) but the best records seem to possess an awareness of the now. This is certainly what is most moving about writing in general : Telepathy from the thinking-in-real-time artist to the audience.

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There are different methods for achieving this end and it's up to you to figure out yr methodology.

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A great performer can deliver a line as if they are thinking it for the first time. A great listener can hear a record as if they are hearing it for the first time.

-Ben.

**The 8723 clock pictured above was made by Jake Ellzey.

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When stuffing the stockings of yr loved ones don't forget the Consumables debut LP released earlier this year. I'm a little biased (I produced the record) but they are my fav new NYC band.

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I've just returned from a week of overseeing the finishing touches on the next BODEGA LP (coming 2026) w/ mixer Theo Verney in wet soggy Brighton -> Yes, it rained 7/8 days I was there (I thought I was in a Smiths music vid). I spent the whole wet week immersed in frequency nuance but luckily avoided (most) second-guessing as I was luckily accompanied not only by Theo's expertise and gentle guidance but Sally Mann's wonderful new book 'Art Work'.

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There's a charming passage where she notes how the famous T.S. Eliot aphorism 'Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal' almost always misses its next sentence: 'Good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.'

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How much more interesting (and useful) is that? Especially when sifting through the rock and pop apparatus searching for new sonic worlds (and personal truth).

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This reminds me of another type of misquotation. Godard never said the art school maxim 'Photography is truth and cinema is truth 24 frames a second' ... one of his character's did (the protag in 'Le Petit Soldat') ... Of course all of us scribes (especially Godard) use our players as mouth pieces but that doesn't mean we always agree with what they have to say. Sometimes we are just testing out an idea. This, of course, also applies to songwriting (where the concept of 'character' is more nebulous).

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Shakespeare also never said 'To thine own self be true'. Polonius did. And Polonius is a buffoon (that's prob why my favorite Polonius is Billy Murray's in the very underrated 90's Michael Almereyda movie w/ Ethan Hawke). Polonius also says 'Brevity is the sole of wit' before beginning an uninvited tedious platitude-ridden speech -> ironic are the countless witless commencement speeches littered w/ Polonius-isms.

-Ben.

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How many stars would you rate this fuck?!

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Witness documentary ---> Twelve minute 'Tarkovski' w/ some zone jamming + 'Born into by What Consumes' live from London Nov 2024 /// The cinema was directed by Nathan Webber and the audio was recorded by Gianluca De Gisi and mixed by aux bassman Tim Race (whose bass playing really shines in this clip).

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Then to now.

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This week we are releasing the last episode of the podcast exploring the histories and mysteries of Bodega Bay and our 2024 'remake' of Our Brand Could Be Yr Life. It's been lovely reconnecting w/ old friends and exploring the first ten years of BODEGA consciousness. Thanks to everybody who tuned in ---> Streaming wherever streams are streamed.

EP I : Adam Sachs (mixer/engineer of OBCBYL)

EP II: Nikki Belfiglio (vox/percussion)

EP III: Joe Wakeman (the 'front man' of Bodega Bay)

EP IV: Dan Ryan (BODEGA lead gtr)

EP V: Josh Fu (Perfect Teeth/Bodega Bay bass)

EP VI : Aiko Masubuchi (Bodega Bay founder/drummer)

EP VII : Adam Shumski (BODEGA drums)

EP VIII: Mike Brandon (Mystery Lights)

EP IX : Tom Miller (Bodega Bay bass)

EP X: Richard Vagnino (Perfect Teeth/Bodega Bay drums)

EP XI: Ben Hozie (vox/gtr)

EP XII: Brendan Mehan (drums in Ben's old band Big Fur)

EP XIII: Kate Mohanty (sax in Bodega Bay)

EP XIV : Devin Johnson (Sunset Diver/filmmaker of 'Bodega Bay Breaks Up')

EP XV: Adam See (BODEGA bass)

EP XVI : Tim Race (BODEGA bass/ 'Brand on the Run' engineer)

EP XVII : Mike Delaney (Milk Dick)

EP XVIII: Ben Hozie

EP XIX : Nikki Belfiglio

EP XX : Adam See

EP XXI : Joe Wakeman

EP XXII: Aiko Masubuchi

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Nikki's document of SXSW 2024.

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2014 Bodega Bay from the vault.

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Gazing w/ Joe Wakeman at our last show of this year.

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I was cleaning the apt after returning from tour and found this -> this is the only photo I have of 'Charlie'. He had gotten a bass guitar for Xmas the week before he drowned in the Charleston river -> we had grand plans to start a band. That previous fall we exclusively plotted and mimed our moves listening to our favorite LPs. I miss you still.

-Ben.

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BRAND ON THE RUN is out now (streaming and b(r)andcmp only for now). It’s a collection of 7 tracks that we designed to extend our remake of OUR BRAND COULD BE YR LIFE.

Myrtle Parade

Cry When Yr Young (Milk Dick cover)

Music Hall of Wburg

Listen w Yr Eyes

Adaptation of the Truth about Marie

Cultural Consumer IV (w/ Joe Wakeman on vox)

N.A.S.S.

Tracks 1-3 were recorded summer 2024 at La Fam w/ Tim Race. Tracks 4-7 were recorded 2023 at Trout during the OBCBYL sessions w/ Adam Sachs. Adam Sachs mixed all of them.

** All of these tracks (except the Milk DK cover) were originally Bodega Bay songs ('Myrtle Parade' was played live 2015-2016 but never recorded / 'Music Hall of Wburg' is a rewrite of 'ATM II'). The Milk DK track is one of my favorite songs ever. They were a band Bodega Bay often played w/ that should have been more popular. Nine times out of ten Bodega Bay ended shows w/ N.A.S.S. so it's fitting that the disc ends there.

The original Bodega Bay 33 track version of ‘Our Brand Could Be Your Life’ is currently available at B(r)andcamp -> All money from downloads will be donated to the Sameer Project for Gaza Relief. We have just a few of the original 33+1/3 Bodega Bay lyric books left that we will also sell at the Nov 14 BK show for Gaza relief. We plan on repressing more for next year.

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https://bodegabaynyc.bandcamp.com/album/our-brand-could-be-your-life

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Tarkovski w/ one of my fav zone drones w/ some Stone Roses + Pillar at Manchester this summer.

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This is the first in a series of video essays I've made that relate to the OUR BRAND COULD BE YR LIFE thematic(s).

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We decided to join the boycott against official SXSW performances this year and will continue to in future years unless SXSW cuts their ties to genocidal war profiteering 'defense' contracting companies such as RTX and L3 in the future.

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I remember people being upset by the potato chip branding at SXSW in 2012 ---> flash forward a decade and there are music stages sponsored by the US Army...

[bodeganyc]

CC III -> Directed by Lucas Balser and shot by Hunter Zimny /// CC IV /// -> Made by Ben and Joe Wakeman.